My Small Business Essentials

I wrote a post about three years ago detailing the essentials of my small business. Obviously every business is different and has different items and things that are essential, and as a fair few things have changed since 2022, I thought I'd do an updated post on what essential things I need to run my business!

I'm not going to obviously list everything that I use, because this post would become the size of a book. I'm just going to list the real essentials, the bigger things that I think are the most important, and things I often get asked about!

Printer

Back in 2019 I bought a Canon Pro-1000 A2 printer. It's the printer I still use to this day, and it's not been 100% perfect (no printer ever is), but considering printers are notorious for playing up, it's actually been pretty good!

Investing in a decent printer in my opinion is a must, especially if you plan on printing a lot of products yourself. I print my prints, cards and some branding (I used to do bookmarks, but outsource them now). Being able to print myself means I can offer way more options in variations and designs, as well as printing to order so keeping the waste to a minimum.

It does take 12 ink cartridges, so can be pretty expensive to refill, but I tend to get 6-9 months out of them at a minimum. The quality of the print is great, and on the right paper, looks so good.

Heat Press

A heat press is essential for me to make products such as my coasters. Without it I wouldn't be able to make them myself! And the reason I like making products myself is I can offer more variations and designs than outsourcing the printing/manufacturing.

The heat press (in the image) I bought is no longer available, but I recommend getting a heat press similar to this style, and not use something like a Cricut Easypress, especially if you press a lot of products.

Sublimation Printer

Coasters are one of my bet selling products, and I make these myself by sublimating them, so like the heat press, a sublimation printer is essential for making them! I use an Epson Eco Tank 1810, with sublimation inks in.

Creaser

Again, not one of the cheaper products I could have bought, but such a lifesaver especially when making up a lot of cards! I would recommend a creaser like this over the one you can buy in hobby/craft stores

Paper Trimmer

One of the first items I bought for my business back in 2018. A decent chunky paper trimmer, which is still going! The reason I went for the A1 size is because I used to buy all my paper in bulk in B1 sheets, so I needed to be able to cut pretty big sheets! I have also bought a smaller ones for doing smaller cuts, because sometimes the bug one is just a bit much.

If you're cutting a lot of paper, I recommend getting something like this as opposed to the cheaper little ones you can get at craft shops.

iPad & Apple Pencil

Every illustration in my shop was drawn on my iPad. So it's a big essential for me, to be able to create. Without the illustrations, I wouldn't have anything to sell!

Camera

I technically don't need a camera for my business, as I have a phone that can do the job, but personally for me the look and edibility of photos with a DSLR camera is just unmatched. I take all my product photos with my (husbands) camera - a Sony Alpha 7 III.

Adobe Creative Suite

I use Illustrator, Photoshop and Lightroom. Illustrator I use to put my designs together and create the files needed to print, as well as making any graphics for the website, newsletter, social media etc. Photoshop I use to create patterns and compositions from my illustrations, which I always draw individually. And also for touching up any photography. Lightroom is what I use to edit product photos.

Procreate

Procreate is the app I use on my iPad to draw. It's amazing. It's a one off fee for purchasing (unlike Adobe), and you can do so much with it. I would very much recommend it for anyone wanting to draw digitally.

Shopify

My website is hosted on Shopify, and if you sell anything, physical, digital or service based, imo you should have your own website in some capacity. The benefits is that you can put all the information you need on there. It's 100% in your control, with your branding and logos and colours.

Shopify works for me, but there are other alternatives such as Wordpress & WooCommerce, Squarespace, Wix and more.

Etsy

I have an Etsy shop. And technically it's not an essential in that I will always choose my own website over a marketplace that could kick you off or go down without any warning, and even though it's not the best platform anymore, it was what kickstarted my business, and so I always recommend having it alongside your own website.

Click & Drop

Postage is essential. I use click and drop, print the labels off and either stick in a parcel box or drop at my local delivery office.

Freeagent

Accountants stuff is boring but an essential. I use freeagent for my business, I am a trading name of my husbands company which is a limited company, so there's just a little more involved than if we were a sole trader, but freeagent is easy to use.

Branded packaging & materials

Branded stickers and business cards are, in my opinion, the absolute minimum you should have for your business. I also have thank you cards that go in each order, and also a stamp that is great for so many things including stamping packaging, or the back of notepads.